–2 Corinthians 4:4 (HCSB)
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Here is another one of the short yet poignant verses that we often overlook or easily glance at.  

               “And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.’”
                              –Mark 8:15(NASB)

J.B. Phillips translates it, “Keep your eyes open!  Be on your guard…”  Whereas, Henry A. Harbuck puts it this way, “Jesus began to [seriously] warn them, saying, ‘Be careful and watchful and be on guard…'”  Stay alert, be on guard–against what?  Leaven?  
     Jesus had just been asked for a sign whereupon He replied that there would be no sign given to this generation, then while talking with His disciples we find this verse.  Look first at the Pharisees; they were marked by hypocrisy.  The Pharisees wished to hold on to their self-righteous assumptions that they merited blessing from God, and so they had no place for a Savior.  Herod is marked by hostility.  He wished to hold on to the power he wielded over the people, so he had no place for the King.  Both were committed to a blindness to the truth; both were saying “I don’t want to find out what Jesus means, and I certainly will not accept that He is my Saviour or my King.”  Jesus is warning His disciples to guard against that attitude. (Alistair Begg)
     Paul writes to the Corinthians and also the Galatians warning them that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  So what is meant by “leaven”?  This word for leaven is referring to the process of fermentation and is used as a symbol of corruption.  Leaven is often used to refer to evil in the Scriptures.  In other words, the disciples were told to be on the lookout for the evil fermentation of the Pharisees and Herodians.  William Barclay writes, “Be on your guard against the evil influence of the Pharisees and of Herod.  Don’t you go the same way that the Pharisees and Herod have already gone.”
     It must have been significant for Jesus to warn them.  “Giving orders” means to do so repeatedly.  The order stands and continues to stand.  “Take heed” is to become acquainted with and to think about the situation using discrimination (Swaggart).  There were to continually be doing this.  “They were to remain watchful and consider the ultimate consequences of this leaven of the Pharisees.” (Swaggart)
     I like what Alistair Begg says about this “leaven.”  “When pride rears its ugly head, it can lead us to judge the Scriptures rather than learning from them.  When we stand in judgment over God’s word, though, what we might regard as trivial and insignificant tweaking of truth will actually become leaven–the yeast–which spreads throughout the entire bread of our convictions.”  It is not up to us to declare that we have a better idea, or give our opinion as to what God actually meant.  We must accept Him for who His is and who He says He is.  
     There are many, and the numbers are growing, within and without the church, who say they have a better idea.  Or that this is what the Bible really says.  There are those who refuse to even hear the words of the Gospel, and dismiss flippantly that Jesus is the only way to God.  “That’s why people can read the Bible and see nothing–can listen to the gospel story and hear nothing.” (Begg)  They are more enlightened.  The disciples didn’t understand for they thought Jesus was talking about the fact that they had no bread.  Can it be that our ears are that dull of hearing and our mind loaded with fog?
     Remember, it only takes a little leaven.  Only a little sin here, and a little there.  Pretty soon the dough will be overflowing and it cannot be stopped as in a Three Stooges’ parody.  Do not be so proud as to assume that you do not need Jesus, and need Him in every part of your life.

                    –John 16:7 (NKJV)
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Why are you suffering?  Is it that God is disciplining you because of sin, or perhaps it is just life?  Maybe, upon chance, God is using you to thwart the plans of Satan, to use you as an example as He did Job.  It is important to check out the possible causes, but remember that “hardship is not always the evidence of disobedience” (George Wood).  Keep those thoughts in mind as we finish the final portion of Psalm 107.

          33 — He turns rivers into wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
          34 — A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
          35 — He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.
          36 — There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
          37 — And sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest.
          38 — He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease.
          39 — When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
          40 — He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
          41 — Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock.
          42 — The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth.
          43 — Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.  (NKJV)

     Why do bad things happen to good people?  I don’t have the complete answer, but it may just be that they are “along for the ride” of God’s punishment because of the wickedness of the people.  When the storms come they will come upon the wicked and the righteous alike.  There were righteous people in Judah when the Chaldeans came to destroy the city and take the people captive among them Jeremiah and Daniel.  They became victims along with those who caused the invasion from the hand of God.  My wife and I watched recently the old version of “The Hiding Place.”  A Christian family, the Ten Booms, faced the onslaught of fascism and went to the concentration camps where they died except Corrie.
     However, God’s discipline is only for a season.  When His people cry out He restores them.  When the righteous suffer, God will call their oppressors into account.  God will bring punishment upon them. (Lawson)  And here I’ll bring a little sidenote:  ponder verse 40.  Those who have made themselves “princes.”  That means all those who set themselves above God, refuse His guidance, commandments, and counsels, He will cause them to “wander in the wilderness where there is no way.”  Those who do right in their own eyes are thinking that they are princes and kings of their lives, but will find themselves lost…wandering.
     Psalm 107, was the psalm read by William Bradford when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.  He used it to describe their plight prior to coming ashore, then he read the climax of the psalm–verses 42 and 43.  In all things, loss and gain, good and bad, we can learn something of the goodness of God.  F.B. Meyer wrote, “Love broods over the weary caravan that faints in the desert; visits the prison house with its captives; watches by our beds of pain; notices each lurch of the tempest-driven vessel; brings the weary hosts from the wilderness into the fruitful soil.  Detected everywhere is the loving-kindness of the Lord.”  
     Go back and reread the complete psalm, then consider the prayer of George O. Wood, “I’m considering Your great love for me today, Lord, and I admit it’s way over my head.  You heard my cry when I was lonely, trapped, sick, and in a storm.  My unworthiness didn’t stop You for a moment.  You, who touch untouchables, also took firm hold on me and I thank You.”

               “My times of sorrow and of joy,
               Great God, are in your hand;
               My choicest comforts come from you
               And go at your command.
               If you would take them all away,
               And all my world be gone,
               I’d still seek lasting happiness
               In you and you alone.”
                        –Benjamin Beddome